The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham news and links for Wednesday, July 8

Good morning! We continue our week of Fitzie’s Track of the day (revisited). So far this week we’ve hit up two favourites of the hoddle: Wet Leg and Charles Mingus.

Today we’re going in a much different direction. When you have more than 1,000 songs on a playlist, you’d like there to be some variety, right? To me this isn’t just about genres or genders, but also featuring the occassional song from a band or artist who aren’t from America or the UK.

This one from Japanese guitar virtuoso Masayoshi Takanaka is one of my favourites. It’s from an album called Seychelles. I haven’t listened to the rest of the album yet because I want to purchase the actual record. It’s a hell of a song. For those who live in Japan or are travelling there soon, good news: He’s currently on tour!

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Can you believe there is no World Cup football on today? What are we going to do with ourselves?

My dear hoddlers, I present two alternatives:

1. Tour de France stage 5: We’re all anticipating Tadej Pogacar to wear the yellow jersey at the Champs de Elysee later this month, but he is currently behind Torstein Træen. The Norwegian cyclist surged to the front of the pack in Stage 4, also complicating matters for Pogacar rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenpoel. But also keep an eye on the hunt for the green jersey. That appears to be the goal for Team Lidl, whose Mads Pederson won the most recent stage.

Day 5 is all about the need for speed. That’s right, it’s a sprint stage! The course from Lannemezan to Pau will be a speedy one before the cyclists return to the mountains. Hopefully this will lead to a classic sprinter’s finish and some drama towards the end. Jasper Philipsen and Tim Merlier are probably favourites to win the stage, but Pedersen could also win back-to-back stages and further claim his grip on the green jersey. Olav Kooij and Biniam Girmay are also two to watch.

2. Wimbledon: We’re in the thick of the greatest tennis tournament in the world. Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova advanced to the semifinals Wednesday, while Novak Djokovic won a 5-hour thriller against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

And even though Wimbledon has a curfew, people tend to get tired. And sometimes, when it’s late, you might be watching television or a sporting event by yourself. Kind of like Roger Federer:

Yup, that’s Roger Federer. The lone man in the royal box watching Alexander Zverev take on Jiri Lehecka. You have to love Federer for watching this. It wasn’t the most compelling matchup, but there are very few people who are greater ambassadors to the sport than him.

I also struggle to understand how anyone who would be invited to the royal box not attend this match. Perhaps less so for the match and moreso to sit next to Federer, share a few snacks and maybe a quip or two about the sport.

Wimbledon coverage continues on Thursday with more singles quarterfinals action (plus some fun doubles). Here’s what’s on tap:

• Women’s singles quarterfinals
  • (9) Linda Noskova vs (25) Elise Mertens
  • (12) Marta Kostyuk vs (13) Jasmine Paolini
• Men’s singles quarterfinals
  • (6) Taylor Friz vs (2) Alex Zverev
  • (9) Francisco Cobolli vs Arhur Fery
• Men’s doubles quarterfinals
  • (7) Krawietz/Putz vs (13) Reboul/Doumbia
  • (6) Pavic/Arevalo vs (3) Cash/Glasspool
• Women’s doubles quarterfinals
  • (9) Perez/Schuurs vs (13) Aoyama/Liang
  • Siskova/Piter vs (2) Gabrowski/Stefani

Fitzie’s track of the day (revisited): トーキョー レギー (Tokyo Reggie), by Masayoshi Takanaka

And now for your links:

BBC: “Fulham appoint Arbeloa as Silva’s successor”

PA Media via The Guardian: “Deloitte review: Premier League clubs’ pre-tax losses surge by 600% to £948m”

ESPN: “Gotham FC moving to ‘world-class’ Etihad Park, home of NYCFC”

The Telegraph: “Norway battling sickness bug before England showdown”